Full-fashioned knitting machine



Filed Feb. 15, 1930 5 sheets-shea 1 ug. 1, 1933.' Ev RlCHTER 1,920,435

FULL FASHIONED KNITTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 15, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 :Jn/vento@ Aug., l, 1933.

E. RICHTER 1,920,435

FULL FASHIONED KNITTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 15, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Aug. l, w33.

E. RICHTER FULL FASHIONED KNITTING MACHINE Filed Feb. l5, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 31m/vento@ dcboz um,

Aug., i, 1933. E, 'RICHTER wam FULL FASHIONED KNITTING MACHINE Filed Feb. l5, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented. Aug. 1, 1933 FULL-FASHIONED KNITTING MACHINE yEmil Richter, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to Schletter & Zander, Inc., of Philadelphia, Pa., a Corporation of Delaware pplication February 15, 1930. Serial No. 428,761 p (Cl. StL-82) 10 Claims.

My said invention relates to full-fashioned knitting machines and particularlyto such machines as are provided with means for knitting blanks for hosiery or the like with spliced or reinforced areas terminating at a distance from the selvage edges oi the blank. Examples of such fabrics are shown in design patents to Walter E. Zander Nos. 70,307 and 73,274.- It is an ob.

ject of my invention to provide means for lengthening the stitches of the main yarn in the areas Where a reinforcing or plating thread is used;

Another object of my invention is to provide means which can readily be changed to accommodate the machine to the lengthening of stitches in areas of various contours, whereby the stitches of the main yarn can be lengthened Yto provide room for the plating or reinforcing yarn in clocks or other areas reinforced for utility or ornamentation in widely varying forms.

Referring to the drawings, which are made a part of this application and in which similar reference characters indicate similar parts,

Fig. l is a section of a full-fashioned machine, Fig. 2 is a partial rear elevation, Fig. 3, a plan of certain parts shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 4, a plan of certain parts shown in Fig. 2, Figs. 5 to 8, details of a pattern drum, Figs. 9 to 1l, details of parts used in said pattern drum, and

Fig. 12, a plan of a stocking blank, in the mak" ing of which the devices of my invention have been found useful.

Referring iirst to Fig. 12 this shows a conventional full-fashioned stocking blank having a welt 20, narrowed at 21 and 22 in any desirable or conventional manner to shape it to the leg and having reinforced heel tabs 23 as usual. Above the heel tabs there is a reinforced area 24 iorm= ing what is known in the trade as a high splice.

Above the high splice there are plated or spliced areas in which an auxiliary yarn is used in addition to the main yarn to provide an ornamental appearance, corresponding substantially to what is shown in Design Patent No. 70,307, and is known in the trade as the Vnline design. It is desirable to lengthen the stitches of the main yarn in the darkened areas 25 in which the splicing or plating yarn is included and to limit such lengthening to the conines of said areas, and the mechanism hereinafter described performs this function.

In Fig. i certain parts are shown which are similar to or identical with the parts oi the well known cotton full-fashioned knitting machine, as well illustrated in Patent No. 349,352 to Lowe & Lamb. vSuch known parts include the back beam 26, the front beam 27, the center bed 28, the welt bar bracket 28', the sinker bed 29, the knock-over bit bed 30, the needle bar 31, the needles 32, the carrier rod bracket 33, the catch bar 34, the regulating shaft 35, the slur bar 36, the slur-cock 37 and the slur 38 for operating the jacks 39 of the jack-sinkers. Operating means for the various movable parts are shown in .some detail for a clear illustration of the invention, as follows: The operating means for the catch bar include a bent lever 40, pivoted at 41 and provided with a roller 42 engaging conventional cams on the main cam shaft e3, the roller being held in engagement with the cams by the usual spring dei secured at one end to an extension of lever `and at the other end to a spring-hook 45 mounted on the front beam 27. An upward extension of the lever is connected to the link 46 secured to the catch bar for giving the same a horizontal motion. to operate the dividing sinkers 47. For lifting the catch bar to disengage it from the dividing sinkers the bar is provided with a catch bar shifter bracket 48 to which is connected a link 49, and a bent lever 50 having a roller 51 bearing-against a cam on the main cam shaft by which the catch bar will be raised and lowered for engaging with or releasing the dividing sinkers at appropriate times. The needle bar 31 is raised and lowered as usualby means of rockarms 52, 52' xed to needle bar shaft 53, rockarrn 52 being pivotally connected to the needle bar at 54. Rockarm 52 carries a roller 55 bearing against cams on the main cam shaft, said roller being held against the cams by a spring/56 connected at one end to a spring hook 57 and at the other end to a downward extension oi lever 52.

The needle bar has an oscillatory movement imparted to it for bringing the needle beards into engagement with the usual xecl presser at appropriate times in the knitting to press the beards and permit the loops ofthe previous course to be thrown ofi the needles by the knock-over bits 58 on knock-over bit bed 30 and also for the purpose of carrying the needles more or less deeply in between the sinkers to vary the stitch length. Conventional means this purpose include a depending rock erin 59 pivotally connected to a link do having a notch engaging a pm on a rock arm 6i dried to the presser shaft 52. The presser shaft 62 also has a rock arm 63 xed thereto which carries a roller 6e held in engagement with cams (not shown) on the main cam shaft by means of a spring 55 secured to lili?? ico .skilled in the art.

a hook on spring-hook 57 at one end and at the other end to a depending finger on rock arm 63.

Carrier bars 66 (Fig. 4) of conventional or desirable type support the yarn guides (not shown) for the various yarns including one or more guides for supplying plating or splicing yarns to areas such as those indicated at 25, 25 in Fig. 12. A tackle is provided near one end of the machine for variably limiting the stroke of the guides for such yarns by limiting the stroke of their yarn guide carriers, which are frictionally driven in a manner well understood by those This tackle may be such as is shown in Schletter application 295,285, July 25, 1928, now Patent No. 1,752,206, and comprises a reversely threaded screw 67 carried by suitable xed brackets 68, which screw may be operated by means such as are illustrated in Schletter Patent 1,713,628, or in any other suitable manner. Rotation of this screw causes a pair of movable abutment nuts 69 and 70 to approach each other or to recede from each other according to the direction of the rotation of the screw. Guide bars 71 and 72 hold the abutment nuts against rotation about the screw 67. These nuts carry a rod 73 slidably supported in bores in the nuts for horizontally slidable movement. A finger 74 is secured to the rod 73 and is shown in Figs. 1 and 4 as fitting between set screws 75 on conventional stops 76 secured to a carrier bar 66. Assuming that two carrier bars are so connected for making the two spliced areas shown in Fig. 12 and that one of the carrier bars is frictionally driven in usual manner the other carrier bar will be constrained to move with it by reason of their connection to the finger 74 and both carrier bars will move until the hub of finger 74 strikes one o r the other of theabutments 69 and 70 after which the carrier bars and the corresponding guides will stand still until the driving mechanism causes them to move in the opposite direction whereupon they will move until they strike the other of said abutment nuts and it will be evident that the stroke of these guides will correspond to the distance between the nuts so that varying portions of the length of the course can be supplied with splicing yarn. A spring pressed plunger 78 (Figs. land 4) engages at its lower end with a notch shown in Fig. 1 to hold the linger in operative position or it may be withdrawn and the shaft 73 oscillated far enough to bring the nger out of engagement with the stop 76. The friction of the spring pressed pin may be relied on to hold the shaft and its iinger 74 out of operative position or another notch may Vbe provided in the shaft for this purpose.

The length of stitches in a course is ordinarily controlled primarily by a cam on cam shaft 43 acting on roller 64 through the mechanism previously described. For certain purposes it is desirable to control the length of stitches by means other than said cams and this is done by means of distance to which said roller and its lever and connected parts are moved, thereby varying the stitch length in obvious manner. In carrying out my design 1 have availed myself of the presence oi the regulating shaft for controlling the stitch length and have fixed thereto a rock arm 79. A link 80 connects this rock arm to a lever 8l, a pivot pin 82 for the link being mounted in a slot and providing an adjustment at this point. A cam 83 on the main cam shaft is adapted to press downward on the link to disconnect the same from a catch at the upper end of rock arm 79 (Figs. l and 3). A spring 80 serves to hold the link up against cam 83, the free end of the spring being secured to the machine frame or to any convenient part of the machine. The lever 8lfis pivoted to a xed bracket 84 (which may be near the mid-length of the machine) by means of a pintle 85 fixed to the lever and carrying at its farther end an arm 86. Adjustment screws 87 are threaded in the upward extension of the lever 81 and in the arm 86 and these screws bear on the two arms 88 of a yoke lever 89 pivotally supported by the pintle 85. These arms carry a xed shaft 90 on which is journaled a roller 91 which roller serves as a follower for cam 92 on the main cam shaft 43.

The cam 92 is made up of a plurality of interchangeable segments, as indicated in detail in Figs. 5 to 11. In the present embodiment of the invention there are two groups 93 and 94 of interchangeable segments in the cam generally designated by reference character 92 and the segments are provided with risers 95 of varying width, the width of the narrowest being indicated at 96 in Figs. 5 and 1l. The cam segments are supported by a ledge 97 partially embracing the cam shaft and are held in place by a bolt 98 passing through heads 99 and 100. These heads are shown as being split diametrically and as having extensions 101 connected by bolts 102. The segments are held in place by bolts 103, passing loosely through elongated slots in the segments, these slots permitting adjustment of the segments to provide for patterns differently positioned in the stocking. For convenience in assembling and accuracy in locating the segments they are each provided with an opening in which an assembling pin 104 or 104 fits closely. For making reinforced areas of various shape a set of segments will be provided with risers of varying width and it will be seen that the workman can readily assemble a group of segments having risers merging into one anothe.l and providing a figure of a contour corresponding to that of the area in which splicing is to be elected and whose body yarn stitches are to be lengthened. Having assembled one or more such groups according to the number and character of the areas to be spliced and having removed bolts 103 and loosened bolt 98 the groups of segments can now be positioned between the two heads, after which the bolts 103 are replaced and the whole tightened up to form a rigid cam acting as a unit.

Fig. 11 shows the form of the cam segment having the shortest riser 96 and Fig. 10, a segment with a relatively long riser 95 such as is seen at the right in Fig. 8, which riser may continue in use throughout the making of the high splice and thus take the place of the usual stitch-lengthening means (not shown) for the two high-spliced areas of a full-fashioned stocking. The segment 106 shown in Fig. 9 has a still longer riser 107 and one or two such segments are used on that part of cam 92 shown as assembled on rod 104 (Fig. 5). This riser is made so long that it holds the needle-bar in stitch-,lengthening position until the end of the course is reached, so as to avoid danger of loose stitches and sleazy work by reason of too early return of the needle-bar. The head 100 has two cam paths formed thereon, i. e., a circular high portion at 108 and a cam path 109 on which a roller 110 (Figs. 1 and 3) travels, this roller being mounted in an extension 111 of the right hand arm 88 of yoke lever 89 .(Fig. 3). The roller 110 runs on vcam 109 during knitting, but when the main cam shaft is moved endwise preparatory to narrowing, as usual, the roller will then run olf cam 109 and onto 108, so as to put this stitch-lengthening means out of action.

There is considerable clearance between the roller 91 and the low part of the segments 93 and 94 to provide for adjustment, as for varying stitch-length in the spliced areas, and to provide for wear. A 'wide range of adjustment is provided by the set screws 87 which, as it will be obvious from the drawings, move the lever 89 about its pivot to force the roller 91 toward cam 92.

For moving the roller 91 along the camv progressively so as to bring the appropriate riser into action, corresponding to the width of that part of the course being knitted which forms a part of the spliced area, i. e., that part of the course to which splicing yarn is supplied, I have provided means for moving the follower 91 of the cam along the rod 90, such means comprising a lever 112 pivoted at 113 on lever 89. At its forward end this lever carries two arms 114 pivoted at 115 and resiliently forced toward the follower by a spring 116. Anti-friction rollers 117 may be located on these arms'tfor engagement with the follower. Theposition of the arms with reference to the follower is limited by means of set screw 118. At its rear end the lever 112 is embraced by a forked arm 119, a spring 119 serving to hold the lever against one of the forks of the forked member to prevent any play of the lever between the two forks. The forked member 119 is secured to a rod 120 slidably supported by guides 121 (Figs. 2 and 3) on back beam 26. A lever 122 pivoted at 123 on a bracket 124 secured to the back beam is provided near its lower end with a roller 125 adjustably secured thereto and engaging between rearwardly projecting exten.

sions 126 of a yoke member 126' also fixed to rod 120. The lever is biased to move counter-clock- Avwise about its pivot by means of two vsprings 127 vare to be made the abutment nuts 69 and 70 will have been positioned according to the desired width of such spliced areas at the particular point in the knitting. Assuming this to be such as shown in Fig. 12 the nuts will be quite close together so that the travel of the spindle '73 and nger 74 is only for a very few wales to form the upper ends of the spliced areas 25. At this time the arm 79 of the regulating shaft 35 will have been rocked to the right in Fig. 1 to permit the notched end of arm to engage the upper end of said arm and hold it in the position shown, whereby also the arm (not shown) of the regulating shaft which moves the follower 64 out of engagement with its cam will have been rocked to the right. In the further operation of parts the follower 91,l which is now approximately at the farthest left hand position (Fig. 3) will be engaged and lifted by the corresponding riser 95 to an extent determined by the adjustment of screws 87 thus causing the lever 81 to swing on its pivot and by means of link 80 to rock the arm 79 farther to the right whereby the rock arms 63 and 61, the link 60 and the rock 59 will be moved in such a way as to move the needles momentarily deeper into the row of sinkers and so lengthen the stitches over the few wales referred to. In the further operation of the machine the abutment nuts will be progressively moved farther from each other for the making ofthe areas 25 in the form shown. As they move in this manner the upper end of lever 122 (Fig. 2) is constrained to follow the left hand abutment nut thus moving rod or truck 120, forked arm 119 and lever 112 in a manner to move the follower 91 to the right in Fig. 3 so as to increase the length of stitches in all the wales in which splicing yarn is inserted, which number is controlled .by the position of the abutment nuts, as above stated. It will be understood that the contour of the spliced areas can be increased or decreased incrementally as desired by automatic machanism 'such as shown in Patent 1,752,206y above referred to or in any other suitable manner and their contour can also be changed more radically by manual adjustment of said nuts if desired, thus rendering possible a great variety of patterns in the fabric. The sections of the cam 92 are readily interchangeable and can be provided with risers of any desired width to correspond to the width of parts in the pattern to be made. The width of the sections is preferably such as to correspond to the number of courses knitted between steps of increase or decrease in width f the pattern.

In the case of the mechanism here illustrated the stitches of body yarn in the reinforced square high splice will also have their length controlled by cam 92, as above explained.

I have illustrated by improvements in connection with a machine substantially of the type known as thefcotton full-fashioned knitting machine but it will be understood that they may be embodied in other full-fashioned machines.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art also that many changes may be. made in details of construction, arrangement, etc., all without departing from the spirit of my invention and therefore I do not limit myself to what is shown inthe drawings and described in the specification but only as indicated in the appended claims.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

- 1. In a full-fashioned knitting machine-havn l ing body yarn-feedingumeans, sinkers, a needle- 199 bar, needles thereon and automatic means for relative adjustment of the needles and sinkers to vary the length of ,the stitches, the combination therewith of mea'ns for introducing auxiliary or splicing yarns inrareas spaced from the selvages of the fabric,-auxiliary stitch-lengthening means for causing the stitches of body yarn to be lengthened in the parts of courses falling Within such areas relatively to those in the remainder of such courses, said means including a M3 sectional cam on the main cam shaft composed of sections each carrying a riser on its peripheral face, the respective risers being of a width corresponding to the width of the different parts of said areas, substantially as set forth.

2. In a full-fashioned knitting machine having body yarn-feeding means, sinkers, a needle-bar, needles thereon and automatic means for relative adjustment of the needles and sinkers to 1,0 vary the length of thestitches, the combination therewith of means for introducing auxiliary or splicing yarns in areas at a distance from the selvages of the fabric, auxiliary stitch-lengthening means for causing the stitches of body yarn to be lengthened in the parts of courses falling within such areas relatively to those in the remainder of such courses, said means including a sectional cam on the main cam shaft composed Vof interchangeable sections each carrying a riser on its peripheral face, the respective risers being of a width corresponding to the width of corresponding portions of said areas, and the width of successive risers varying by increments corresponding to changes in width of successive parts of such areas of the fabric to be produced; substantially as set forth.y

3. Ina full-fashioned knitting machine having a row of sinkers, main* and auxiliary yarn carriers, means for variably limiting the stroke of the auxiliary yarn carriers for adding a yarn to areas of the fabric spaced from the .selvages thereof, a series of needles, a needle-bar, means for rocking the bar to vary the length of stitches, and auxiliary stitch-lengthening means comprising a yrotary cam having one or more risers varying in Width at points spaced axially of the cam, a follower for the cam, a rod on which the follower is mounted for movement axially of the cam, a yoke carrying the rod, a lever having an arm adjacent the yokekan adjusting screw on the lever bearing against said yoke, and connections from said lever to the needle bar for rocking the same, substantially as set forth.

4. A device as in claim 3, including a shiftable main cam shaft, a follower on another arm of said yoke, and a cylindrical track at one end of said cam so located as to engage the secondnamed follower andrender the auxiliary stitchlengthening means inoperative when the camshaft is shogged 'for narrowing.

.5. In a full-fashioned knitting machine having a row of sinkers, main and auxiliary yarn carriers, means for variably limiting the stroke of the auxiliary yarn carrier to add a yarn to areas of the fabric spaced from the selvages thereof, a series of needles, a needle-bar, means for rocking the needle bar to vary the length of stitches, auxiliary stitch-lengthening means comprising a rotary cam having one or more risers varying in width at points spaced axially of the cam, a follower for the cam, a' rod on which the follower is mounted for movement axially of the cam, a yoke carrying the rod, a lever having an arm adjacent the yoke, an adjusting screw on the lever bearing against said yoke, connections from said lever to the needle rotary cam having one or more risers varying in width at points spaced axially of the cam, a follower for the cam, a rod on which the follower is mounted for movement axially of the cam, a yoke carrying the rod, a lever pivoted on the yoke and having means to engage the follower, and means to rock the last-named lever for moving the follower axially of its cam, substantially as set forth.

7. In a full-fashioned knitting machine having a row of sinkers, main and auxiliary yarn carriers, means for variably limiting the stroke of an auxiliary yarn carrier to add a yarn to areas of the fabric spaced from the selvages thereof, a series of needles, a needle bar, means for rocking the needle bar to vary the length of stitches, auxiliary stitch-lengthening means comprising a rotary cam having one or more risers varying in Width axially of the cam, a follower for the cam, a rod on which the follower is mounted for movement axially of the cam, a yoke carrying the rod, a lever pivoted on the yoke and having means to engage the follower, and means to rock the last-named lever for moving the follower axially of its cam, said means being controlled from the stroke-limiting means for the auxiliary yarn guide carrier.

8. In a. full-fashioned knitting machine having a set of sinkers, a set of needles, a needle-bar, means for oscillating the needle-bar to vary the stitch length including a main cam shaft and a follower for a cam on said shaft, the combination therewith of auxiliary means for rocking the needle-bar to vary the stitch-length, including a regulating shaft connected to said follower means for moving the regulating shaft to hold the follower out of reach of its carri', said means including an arm 79 on the regulating shaft, a cam 92, a follower for the second named cam, and connections from said last-named follower to said arm including adjusting means for varying the effect of said auxiliary means, substantially as set forth.

9. In a full-fashioned knitting machine having a row of sinkers, a series of needles, a needlebar, means for rocking the bar to vary the length of stitches, and auxiliary stitch-lengthening means comprising a rotary cam having a series of risers of varying'width arranged along the axis of the cam, a follower for the cam, a rod on which thefollower is mounted for .movement to engage said risers in succession, a yoke carrying the rod, a lever pivoted on the yoke and having means to engage the follower, and patterncontrolled means to rock the last-named lever for moving the follower axially of its cam, substantially as set forth.

10. In a full-fashioned knitting machine having a set of sinkers, a set of needles, a needlebar, means for oscillating the needle-bar to vary the stitch length including a main cam shaft and a follower for a cam on saidvshaft, the combination therewith of auxiliary means for rocking the needle bar to vary the stitch-length, including a regulating shaft connected to said follower tomove it out of reach of its cam, another cam on the main cam shaft, said cam being divided transversely of the shaft into interchangeable sections, risers of varying circumferential length on said sections, a follower for said cam, an arm on the regulating shaft, connections from said follower to said arm including adjusting means for varying the effect of said auxiliary means, substantially as set forth, means for supplying a main yarn to the needles, means for supplying auxiliary yarn to parts of, courses, and means correlated with the auxiliary-yarn-supplying means to move said follower along said cam to lengthen the stitches in such parts of courses. I 

